Floppy disks, two free check-in bags for flights, towns with two daily newspapers, cassette tape recorders, waiting with and seeing people off at airports are all things that have nearly or entirely disappeared in the last decade. You can add AT&T’s Chicago 411 team to this list…

In the days when the Internet was new and phones weren’t very smart, telephone books were printed and updated once a year. If a business or person changed a phone number, 411 was one of the fastest ways of connecting with that person or business.

We often don’t need to make a voice call these days. And, when we do, phone numbers are easily found using an app or the web browser on your mobile phone. Some smartphones have the ability to simply let you speak your question to it directly and seach for a phone number for you. So, who needs 411 these days? The answer is, apparently, not enough for AT&T to justifiy keeping this particular office open.

Best wishes to the folks over in that Chicago office as they adjust to these changing times.